intro-to-unit.doc

questions.doc

 rating-chart-after-discussion.doc

1.  We started with a bunch of handouts students were given. I wrote the order down on the board so they were sure to add them to their binder in the right order.
2. We charted on the board the results students found from their internet search yesterday. It showed clearly how some country’s citizens have very little trust in their country’s media. It also showed, at times, while some media feel a fair amount of freedom in what is written, the viewers still do not trust the accuracy of the news.
3. We also read an article talking about the news in Iraq. Many new sources of news are available, now that Saddam Hussein does not have direct control over the only news source, but many people are still skeptical of news and will not change over easily.

faith-in-the-media-handout.doc

1. We started with some questions regarding the posted pictures of Saddam Hussein’s dead sons. Was it ethical for the media to share these photos?
2. Once done that discussion, groups formed and chose a country from a given list and were to research the media in the country to find out how much control the government has over media there. For example, one group found a list of the top ten most censored countries, their country of Cuba being listed as the seventh most censored. Do citizens of these countries know they are censored and how much trust do they have in the media they can access. Students seemed quite interested and involved in their searches.

Also, on a side note, China has restrictions of what people can even access on the internet. Google is accessible from China but with certain agreements made with the government to control certain information or pictures. Look up images of Tiananmen Square on google.ca and compare it to the same search on google.cn (the Chinese access). The pictures are quite different.

1. We finished watching the movie today and talked about it a short bit.
2. Students were given a handout with questions. We discussed them as a class and students wrote their own responses down.
3. We also discussed for a short while the recent news of the shooting in the states. The internet has clearly become a real source of communication for students who were on campus but unable to get information.
4. We also had a little fun and watched the commercial samples the class made in their groups earlier in the course. Some of them were very well done. Great job!